


Kent and Bitty, Part 1

by nonuniqueindie (chyeahnursey)



Series: Watch that Half Twist [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, Olympics AU, synchronized divers au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 05:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9221279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chyeahnursey/pseuds/nonuniqueindie
Summary: Kent Parson is on top of the world, until he's not.Eric Bittle is just trying to make it in the diving world.





	

**Author's Note:**

> 2008 - 18 (Kent) - Bitty (17), not competing but watching on tv  
> 2012 - 19 (Bitty) - 22 (Kent)  
> 2016 - 26 (Kent) - 23 (Bitty)  
> Not that we are at 2016 yet, but just for reference

Kent goes to the Olympics for the first time when he's 18. He had started training with Andrew the summer he turned 16. There's less than half an inch difference in their height, and in the last two years of training they've developed a near psychic connection on the platform. Sure, sometimes Kent's tuck is just a touch off, and Andy can't quite hold his handstand as long as Kent, but they've learned to work around it and they have good, solid dives. They're in Beijing in February for the FINA World Cup, and they don't medal but they do well enough to qualify for the Olympics, and they're young and they're going to the Olympics and life is pretty great. Team USA has a good contingent in Beijing, and they get a little drunk in one of the hotels rooms and they dance and they laugh and they sing and Kent is happy. 

They're back in Beijing in August and they're all housed together in the Athlete's village and everything is nuts. Walking into the stadium during the opening ceremonies is so emotional Kent cries a little bit. He tries to deny it but Andy has a video because he's not an idiot, he knows perfect blackmail material when he sees it. 

The athletes still have training and practice and prelims and finals but they manage to spend some time together too, playing video games in the evening and there's a pool table that gets used some afternoons, and Kent and Andy go to every aquatic event they can and cheer on Team USA.

Again, Kent and Andy don't medal, but they certainly catch the eyes of a lot of broadcasters and are called "a team to watch out for" and they've done so well for all that they've only been training together two years and they know that they can do this. 

In 2009 they go to the World Aquatic Championships in Rome and get a bronze medal. Andy doesn't have to take a video of Kent crying this time, because it's on international television and YouTube and he's crying too, so who is he to judge? They get back to the States and celebrate with their friends and families and train and train and train and Kent is happy.

In 2010 they're back in China, Changzhou this time, for the Diving World Cup. They get a silver medal. Kent is 20 and he feels like he's on top of the world. 

The next two years are a blur of training and travel and competitions. He and Andy are closer than ever, they're better than ever, and they qualify for the London Olympics. They get a bronze medal. His family and Andy's family are there and he's never had so many hugs at once and Kent can't believe that this is his life and this is happening and everything is amazing. The other divers throw a party for him and Andy that night and it's not too crazy because hey, there's still competitions to be had, but there's beer and music and someone puts on Party in the USA and they all sing along to it and Kent even makes out with a cute boy, so 2012 is pretty much Kent Parson's best year, ever. Later that year, when Red comes out, Kent is pretty convinced that Taylor wrote 22 just for him. 

2013 is not a good year for Kent. 

They're training for the World Aquatic Championships when it happens. They're practicing a routine dive and when Kent opens his eyes after he lands, he sees red. He panics immediately, sees Andy next to him, swimming towards the edge of the pool and holding the side of his head. He helps Andy to the side, their coach there and ready to pull Andy out, their manager Larissa off to the side looking worried. Kent can't really focus, but he hears someone say an ambulance is on the way, and someone is holding a towel or gauze to Andy's head and Andy is talking and he's awake so it's going to be okay it's going to fine, and Kent doesn't know when it happened but he's out of the pool too and being wrapped up in a towel by someone and he's herded to the change room and somehow manages to get street clothes back on and then he's at the hospital and he's not sure how he got here but there was a car at some point and oh god no one had let him drive had they and he's walking down a series of hallways with Larissa and finally finally finally they find Andy. He's sitting up in bed, talking to a doctor, and Andy's mom is here holding his hand, and there's a bandage around his head but other than that he seems... normal. Andy's mom waves them in and Kent collapses into the chair opposite her and Andy reaches out to squeeze his hand reassuringly and Kent tries to pay attention to what the doctor is saying. 

It boils down to this - Andy had hit his head on the diving board as he went into his somersault, he'd had to get 12 stitches, and he had a concussion, but they wouldn't know how severe it was until later. No diving. 

Kent knows they're going to have to scratch themselves from Spain. He doesn't have time to train with someone new and he doesn't want to compete with anyone but Andy. 

The room is quiet after the doctor leaves. Andy's mom follows him, going outside to call Andy's dad and let him know what was going on. 

"Guess we're not going to Spain after all," Andy says quietly, squeezing Kent's hand gently. 

"Andy-!" Kent started, not sure what he was going to say. I thought you were dead? I'm glad you're not dead? I don't want to dive without you?

Andy squeezes his hand and turns to Larissa. "I know it's coming up to the competition but you might want to start looking around for a new partner for Kent."

"What, do I not get any say in this?"

"No, you don't. Because you would say no." Andy told him.

"Damn right I would say no!" Kent exploded. "You're being ridiculous, you just heard the doctor! We won't know how bad your concussion is right away, you could be back on the platform in 6 months for all you know! And you're sitting here like you're going to replace yourself? If you're that sick of me you could have just said something!"

"You're right Kent, we don't know how bad it is," Andy looks tired already. "But you have to consider the possibility that it could be that bad. I might never get back up there again. You're great Kent, you can't put your career on hold for me. You can't put practices on hold for me. Think about it. Even if it's just someone to practice with."

Larissa's phone rings, and she slips out of the room to take the call.

"Andy - Andrew - I thought you-" Kent's throat closes. 

"Hey, no, Kent, I'm okay. I'm right here." Andy pulls him up out of the chair. "Come here."

Kent takes a step closer to the bed. "I don't want to dive without you. If they don't clear you, I'm going to retire."

"Kent Parson, you are not going to do that. You're 23, you're amazing at your job, and you're not going to retire if this is worse than we think it is."

"But -"

"No buts." Andy smiled at him. "If I couldn’t dive anymore, it wouldn't mean our friendship was over. It wouldn't mean you'd never see me again. I'd still be at the pool all the time, and at every competition."

"What if I'm not good at this without you?"

"You know, I thought you saying you'd retire was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard, but that definitely tops it."

"I just -"

"Shut up, Kent. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, right? Minimize the disappointment."

Larissa knocked as she opened the door. "Hey, guys, that was the Committee."

"Fuck, how do they know already?" Kent whipped around to look at her, a scowl on his face. 

"Coach called them," Larissa said. "We don't want any rumours starting, we want all the information to come from us."

"What did you tell them?" Andy asked. 

"The truth," Larissa shrugged. "Or, most of it anyways. Training injury, won't be going to Spain, have to wait for medical clearance to start practicing again. They don't need to know any more than that." She sat down on the other side of Andy's bed. "I have one of the guys bringing your stuff over from the pool. Is there anything else I can do for you right now?"

"Yeah, uh, my mom is calling the family, but maybe we could make sure something goes out on my personal twitter? You have my password still, yeah?"

"Sure, I can do that," Larissa said, already typing away at her phone. "Just a tweet, or a photo too?"

Andy looked at Kent. 

"Don't think you want to go with the photo today, you might scare people," Kent told him, his fingers ghosting over the bandage on Andy's head. 

"Why don't you bring some of your makeup over tomorrow and we can make sure I look fabulous for the photo?" Andy winked at Kent. 

"Listen, I know you're teasing me, but I'm going to do it." Kent crossed his arms and mock glared at Andy. 

"He just knows you're prettier than him and he's jealous," Larissa told Kent. "Now, I know you're not thrilled about the idea Kent, but Coach Hall and I have actually been looking at some people we thought you and Andy could train with - I can probably get some of them to come in after Spain, you could try practicing with them, see if anyone clicks?"

Kent shrugged noncommittally. "I guess."

 

The hospital keeps Andy for two days for observation. He was still dizzy at times, and the overhead lights bothered him, but those are both fairly common symptoms so they let him go home. His mom and dad are staying with him, and Kent is there whenever he's not training, so it's a bit cramped, but cozy. Andy gets tired easily and his eyes get irritated by too much light, especially from the tv, so it's usually pretty subdued. Kent should probably feel a little bad that he's always there, but no one has commented on the fact that he sleeps on the couch more often than not, so he's not going to bring it up if they aren't. The days fall into a pattern of training and reading and sleeping and Kent starts to think that maybe things are going to be okay. 

They're hanging out one night after dinner, watching a Netflix show they've both seen before and trying to avoid talking about the WAC, which may or may not be happening halfway around the world, and Kent has gotten a few texts from some people he knows that are there and he's retweeted a couple things about Team USA but they are decidedly not talking about it, when Larissa walked in to the apartment. Andy’s parents had stayed for two weeks, but were back at their home now (though his mom still came by frequently) and Larissa had taken the extra key so she could keep an eye on Andy. 

"Hey boys," she greeted, sitting between Kent and Andy on the couch and dropping a bag to the floor. "I brought you something." She pulls a stack of files out of her bag and hands them to Kent. 

"What are...?" Kent trails off when he flips the first one open. "What, no! Larissa, we said after Spain - it's only day 2!"

"Kent, it can't hurt to look," Andy said gently. 

Kent stared at him, the betrayal evident on his face. "If you're so interested in them, why don't you just choose your own replacement then," he spat, dropping the files on his lap and heading for the washroom. He splashed some water on his face and stared at himself in the mirror. It hadn't even been three months yet. It was stupid to be looking at these files now. Everything was going to be okay. Everything had to be okay. 

 

\----  
Bitty 

Bitty bounced on his toes. He had arrived to the pool a bit early, nervous energy sizzling under his skin. When he'd mentioned off-hand to his coach that he thought he might like to try synchro diving, he hadn't thought that anyone would actually be looking for a partner. He knew most of the synchro divers and 10m divers, and he knew there was no one close to or even talking about retirement. 

When he'd heard about Andy Rivera's injury, he'd almost cried. He remembered being 15 and watching Andy and Kent in 2008 in Beijing, and how they hadn't medalled, but they had looked so happy and fearless. He'd pushed and pushed himself, and had managed to get on the US team for 2012 and competed with them in London (well, not with them, but in the same pool, so close enough) and even though Bitty hadn't medalled, hadn't even really been close in the end, Andy and Kent had. They got a bronze medal and everyone celebrated and the resulting party had been, well, pretty amazing. (Bitty probably shouldn't be thinking about the party right now. Dangerous territory.)

Word of the injury had gotten around to the aquatics team pretty quickly, and they had all known it was more serious than the press thought. Bitty knew, all too well, that a concussion had been likely, and although no one wanted to say it, he knew they were all thinking there was a chance that Andy wouldn't come back to diving. The team was a lot more subdued than usual in Spain, all of them avoiding talking about the missing duo. Bitty didn't think he was the only diver looking at the platform with a sense of distrust that week - there was so much that could go wrong and Andy's injury was a huge reminder of that. He'd managed to keep it together, and somehow pull off the best performance of his life. It paid off, and he got his first medal - silver. The team threw a party, as they always did, and Bitty had a good time, but his heart really wasn't in it. He snuck back to his room far earlier than he usually would, but stayed up on Twitter for a while. He saw that Kent Parson had retweeted a picture from USA Diving with the caption "Congrats to @ericbittle15 on his first #silver at #WAC2013!". Bitty smiled to himself and liked the tweet.

And now he was here, waiting for a chance to go and dive with Kent Parson and see if it might be a partnership that could actually work. Not that he was going to have a chance to dive with Kent if he didn't leave the change room. Taking a deep breath, reassuring himself that he could keep the hero worship under control, he walked out to the pool.

Which was... empty.

Or not, he thought, as he heard laughter from the stands.

"That is literally the worst rendition of Fresh Prince I've ever heard Kent," Andy said between laughs, wiping tears away. "For the love of God, do not quit your day job, you're fucking terrible at everything else."

"I wasn't that bad, come on, tell him Larissa," Kent whined.

"Uh, actually you were Parson. Terrible. You murdered that song." Larissa said matter of factly. 

"Had to do something to pass the time," Kent slouched and crossed his arms. "Considering I don't even want to be here."

Bitty was definitely not supposed to hear this conversation. He ducked back into the doorway and out of sight. 

"Stop whining, you big baby." Andy punched his arm. "Bittle's a great diver, it's going to be fine."

Kent slouched farther down in his seat. "Has it at all occured to you that I don't want to dive with someone I don't know?" 

Someone he doesn't know...? Bitty frowned. Did Kent not remember when they had, uh, met?

"You didn't know me before we started diving together and that turned out fine."

Okay, if he had to listen to any more of this conversation, he was going to lose his nerve and walk right out of the building. He quietly pulled the door open behind him and let it close loudly before he stepped into view. 

Larissa saw him immediately. "Eric Bittle! We'll send Parse right down. Do you mind if we film you?"

"Uh, no, that's fine," Bitty called back to her. 

"Can't wait to see what you've got Bittle!" Andy called down.

Bitty couldn't stop himself before he shifted nervously from foot to foot. He flicked his gaze up to the diving platform so he wouldn't be tempted to follow Kent's path down from the stands.

"Parse! Get a move on! I have practice in 2 hours, and I'd like to actually get there on time," Larissa snapped from where she was setting up the camera.

"Yeah, yeah," Kent flapped a hand at her and jogged down the stairs to meet Bitty at the side of the pool. "Shall we?" He gestured to the platform.

Bitty nodded, and started up the stairs.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" Kent chuckled.

"Oh, I - well normally - I'm usually by myself so there's no one to talk to," Bitty flushed. Lord, how was he so flustered right now? Not good.

"Ah."

More silence. Kent didn't speak again until they were at the top of the platform. "Alright, Andy, Larissa, what do you want to see?"

Andy cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled back, "Back one and a half tuck."

Bitty rolls his shoulders and takes a deep breath. Easy. He can do this. He nods to Kent and the two of them line up at the edge of the platform.

"On three," Kent says. "One, two, three!"

Bitty launches himself up and out, his body somersaulting almost automatically, contracting into the tuck position, opening up and stretching as he straightens to get a clean landing in the pool. He comes up and hears the applause before he opens his eyes.

"Nice, Bittle!" Larissa yells.

"Sweet somersault! Teach Kent how to do that, turns out he's terrible at his job too!" Andy yells.

Bitty looks to where Kent has popped up next to him, sees him hold up both middle fingers to Andy. "Well, let's try something else," he says when he turns to Eric. "Give them something to really look at."

Bitty knows he's talking about another dive, but he can't stop the electric feeling that shoots up his spine, and he can only hope his face isn't as flushed as it feels. "Sure," Bitty says, managing to keep his voice normal and not sound like his mouth is suddenly dryer than the Sahara. He shoots towards the side of the pool and pulls himself out, because there is no way in hell he's going to be following that boy up the stairs. Bitty makes it back to the top of the platform without dropping dead, and Andy waits until they're ready to call out the next dive. "Front two and a half pike!"

Kent counts them down again, and then Bitty's flying through the air. Andy and Larissa are applauding again when he comes up for air.

Andy and Larissa run them through a few more dives, and then Larissa says, "Bittle, wanna show us an armstand?"

Bitty looks up at them. "Sure, why not?" It's not like armstands are one of his best tricks. He's definitely not showing off for these people. Oh lord, he can't even lie to himself.

At the top of the platform, he pauses, takes a breath. Gets into his armstand. Takes another breath. Okay, now he's really showing off. And - off he goes. Double back, one and a half twist, straighten out, hit the water. Kent's waiting at the edge of the pool for him.

"Nice, Bittle," he says, and reaches out a hand to help Eric out of the pool.

"Thanks," Bitty says, ducking his head just a little.

"Grab a towel and come watch the tape!" Larissa yells down. Kent grabbed a towel from a bin at the corner of the pool and wraps it around his waist, then tossed one to Bitty.

"Thanks," Bitty says again, because that's the only word he knows now, wrapping the towel around his waist and snagging a second one as he goes by to drape around his shoulders. He and Kent head up the stairs to where Larissa and Andy are sitting in front of a laptop. Kent dropped down next to Andy and the two of them started whispering to each other. Bitty sat down on the other side, next to Larissa, and rubbed at his hair with the towel on his shoulders. He tried not to let his nerves get the best of him, because as much as they had seemed pleased with each dive, this was the moment where they were going to see exactly how well he and Kent had paired up - or if they hadn't worked at all. Larissa seemed to pick up on his anxiety, and she patted his knee lightly.

"Don't worry Bittle, you did good."

"You can call me Bitty, if you want," Eric offered out of habit, then flushed when he realized what he had said.

"Bitty?" She arched an eyebrow.

"It was a, uh, team nickname," Eric mumbled.

"Hey, why didn't our swim team have nicknames?" Oh good, Kent and Andy had decided to rejoin the conversation.

"It, well, um, it wasn't a swim team nickname," Eric could feel his face getting redder.

"What other team were you on?" Andy asked.

"... gymnastics. I did trampoline."

Larissa whistled. "That explains the somersaults then."

Eric tried to will his face back to its normal colour. "Yeah, well," he shrugged. "I think we have a video to watch?" Not the smoothest transition, but better than nothing. Larissa started the video.

"I want a nickname," he could practically hear Kent's pout.

"Is Parse not good enough for you?" Andy nudged his shoulder.

Larissa shushed them and leaned across Andy to hit Kent. "Video. Watch."

Eric focused on the video and critiqued it as well as he could, considering he was looking at himself, and he knew he really wanted to dive with Kent again. But they were actually really good together. Not perfect, of course, there were still corrections to be made, but he could see the basis of a good team. Andy and Larissa made a few comments during the video, but Eric stayed quiet. He wanted to know what they thought, because they were the ones who were going to make the decision, in the end.

"Well," Andy said, leaning back on his hands after the video ended. "I vote we keep him."

"Me too," Larissa said.

Kent pursed his lips for a second. "Me three."

"If you want to put up with this jerk, that is," Larissa said, turning back to Eric.

"He's kind of high maintenance," Andy added.

"Hey!" Kent protested.

Eric smiled. "Yeah," he said. "I think I can handle it."

"Good," Andy said. "For once Kent can know what it feels like to be the tall one."

"Excuse me, I am also the pretty one."

"Nope, when it's you and me, I'm the tall one, and the funny one, and you're the pretty one," Andy told him. "But if it's you and Bitty, you're the tall one, and he's the itty bitty pretty funny one."

Kent goggled at him. "A) did you just quote a song and B) I'm always the pretty one."

"Not anymore. Man, I am so glad I picked Bitty." Andy had a self-satisfied smile on his face. "You're going to have to do so much work to keep up with him, old man. He rotates faster than you and he's in better shape."

"I think you broke him," Larissa commented, looking at Kent's blank face. "Like, you straight up killed all of his ideas about himself."

Andy looked unconcerned. "He'll be fine. Just give him a minute or two." He looked at Bitty. "Wanna come down to the office and check out the practice schedule we have right now? We can make some changes if we need to, but I think it should work out well enough. Are you still in school?"

"I'm taking courses online, but that's it. I've moved around a bit for training," Bitty told him.

"Awesome," Andy said. "Come on." Bitty trailed after Andy as he headed down to the coaches office, leaving Larissa to deal with the still bamboozled Kent.

"So, you said you picked me?" Bitty asked when they were out of earshot of the other two.

"Yeah, Larissa brought a bunch of files and Kent refused to 'replace me' so he told me to look at them," Andy made air quote around 'replace me' and smiled at Bitty. "Gotta say kid, you know what you're doing. Shame about that fourth dive in London. Everything else was great."

Bitty flushed again. Had his face been a normal colour at all today? "Well, it was just my first Olympics. No one was watching me anyways; the big event was you and Kent."

"And if you don't kill him before then, it'll be you and Kent in Rio. Well, and me and Larissa screaming from the audience."

"Right, well, hopefully." Eric finally let himself really smile. Things were looking up.


End file.
